Rhode Island Health Coverage Mandate

Beginning January 1, 2020, the Rhode Island Health Coverage Mandate requires Rhode Island residents to maintain minimum essential coverage or pay a penalty (unless they qualify for an exemption).

Residents who fail to maintain coverage are subject to a “shared responsibility payment penalty” as defined in §44-30-101(c) of the Rhode Island General Laws.

The law also includes annual ACA-like reporting requirements for “applicable entities” that provide minimum essential coverage to an individual during a calendar year. Applicable entities include:

• An employer or other sponsor of an employment-based health plan that offers employment-based minimum essential coverage to any resident of Rhode Island.
• The Rhode Island Medicaid single state agency providing Medicaid or Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) coverage.
• Carriers licensed or otherwise authorized by the Rhode Island office of the health insurance commissioner to offer health coverage.

Applicable entities have the option to contract with third-party service providers like UnifyHR to provide the returns and statements required by the law.

If you need to file information returns for Rhode Island, we can help!

With UnifyHR, you get everything you need to meet your requirements, including:

• Creation and electronic filing of information returns with the Rhode Island Division of Taxation
• Designated client manager and IT support
• Management reports